Day 95: Job 3-7
Three of Job's friends heard about his misery and come to visit him. They comfort him and join him in his suffering. They don't speak for 7 days, weeped together, and mourned together. When Job finally does speak, he doesn't curse God, like one might expect him to do. Instead, he curses the day of his birth. He lives in the moment of pain, feeling it deeply and reflecting on how he wishes he hadn't been born.
One of Job's friends, Eliphaz, tells Job that he should appeal to God. He then tells Job all the good things that God has done. Job responds by saying that he will appeal to God, not for what Eliphaz wants him to ask for but to plead to God to let him die. And, while his friends seem to want him to get over it and to stop mourning, Job tells them that he will not keep silent--that he will feel his pain, express his anguish, and complain in the bitterness of his soul.
Oftentimes when someone dies or suffers some painful loss, well-meaning people say the wrong thing. One time, for instance, when someone's 22-year-old son died suddenly, I heard a woman say to the mom, "It's all right. He's in a better place." Things like this, while well-intentioned, do not comfort the mom who has lost her son, or the son who has lost his mother, or the woman who cannot feed her family. Job is right to tell his friends that he will "not just get over it" but instead he will live in this time of pain. He will grieve over what he has lost, and he will even lament over being born. However, he will not curse God. In his grief, he will not sin. We need to let people grieve. We need to provide comfort to people that goes beyond, "At least he's in heaven." While that may be true, it doesn't help the grief and pain we feel now. Job recognizes this, and he lovingly teaches his friends this, too.
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